The ARB Apex Bank has called on its shareholders, staff and boards of rural and community banks to work hard to put the banks on a stable footing.

It has also urged rural and community banks to increase their shareholding and encourage the public to purchase shares from them.

The Head of Legal and Compliance Department of ARB Apex Bank, Mr Curtis Brantuo, made the call at an extraordinary general meeting of the Akyem Bosome Rural Bank Limited at Akyem Swedru last Saturday.

He expressed optimism that the bank would soon regain its former glory.

Financial challenges

Owing to governance and financial challenges in 2018, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) dissolved the bank’s board of directors in March, 2019, while the general manager was also asked to step aside.

The BoG subsequently directed the ARB Apex Bank to take over the management of the bank and so a Relieving Duty Manager was appointed on April 1, 2019 to take charge of the day-to-day operations of the bank and to appoint an interim management Board (IMB) to appoint a new general manager for the bank.

New general manager

In May this year, a new IMB was appointed while a new general manager was also appointed in July.

After 20 months of transition, that is, from April last year to November this year, the board presented a report on its stewardship to its shareholders and other stakeholders right from the period of dissolution of the bank’s old board through to the formation of the IMB.

Interim board chairperson

The Chairperson of the Interim Management Board, Dr Betty Nannor Arthur, said the bank’s total assets as at the end of the third quarter of this year stood at GH¢17,264,155.00, with loans and other advances at GH¢6,408,793.

She said the bank intended to shore up its shareholders’ fund through cost reduction, income growth, improvement in shares and restoration of impaired investments.

She said cash holdings and balances with other banks and financial institutions increased from GH¢2,782,248.22 in March, last year to GH¢4,377,152.71 in September this year, while short-term investment shot up from GH¢2,004,077.21 to GH¢4,100,000.30 within the same period.

She said at the end of September this year, the bank’s outstanding deposits was GH¢25,635,255.80 compared with GH¢21,143,781.07 recorded in March, last year, representing a deposit growth of 21.24 per cent over the 18-month period.

Rural banks are strong

The Eastern Regional Chairman of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Charles Asare Frimpong, reassured the public that rural and community banks were very strong and urged them to save with the banks.

He maintained that the banks had helped their customers to benefit from loans to expand their businesses.